I know that on some women this might be amazing..and if that's you then enjoy it--life it too short to give up something you love because other people don't like it. However, for me its a headache inducing NIGHTMARE. I've rarely hated a fragrance as much as I do this one...one possible reason is that a woman I worked with used to literally BATHE in this stuff ...I wasn't able to get to know her well because I couldn't stand to carry on more than a minute long conversation, because I held my breath the entire time--no joke. I don't pick up the nuances that some of you do, because my reaction to this has and always will be to hold my breath until I can get out of the elevator or out of the building away from it!

Four words: Try The Bath Oil. It's an entirely different experience. The edp is as dark and heavy as the grave, so thick and dense you can't hear what it is trying to say. But a bare drop of the bath oil on your wrist, and you are suffused with the glow of warm-spicy-woody-musky goodness.

My mother uses just a bit of the bath oil every once in awhile; she is quite the old-school perfumista, and she ALWAYS smells fabulous.

Seriously. Try the bath oil and you might be pleasantly surprised. It is hard to believe it is the same fragrance as the edp.

Whew! My aunt sprayed this on me so I could see what it was like. I think she has the perfume concentrate, and after scrubbing with soap and water (twice!), it still smells so strong. I am not sensitive to perfumes, but obviously this is an exception. It is uncomfortably intense. I know this is gross, but it makes me think of an old lady that hasn't showered and sprayed on a ton of perfume to cover it up. To call this cloying would be the understatement of the century.

My partner and I went into a department store yesterday, and he passed me his Xmas bonus gift card, and said 'We don't leave here til you have spent it on yourself.' Wonderful man, eh?

So I wandered around, looking at a few things, and we reached the perfume section. Well, my problem with most perfumes is that they turn to cat's pee on my skin - don't think I am joking! There are very few that stay acceptible, and only 3 or 4 have ever been pleasant enough for me to wear for more than an hour without resorting to soap and water. Some of them even make me nauseous.

Add to this joyous picture the fact that the vanilla-fruit-sweet-sickly-light-as-a-froth-celebrity-whiffs that seem so fashionable always remind me of a friend who breathed bubblegum over me for most of my childhood... and you can guess that my trip round that perfume counter was fairly fast. Grin.

And then I saw the Youth Dew bottle and thought, haven't I heard of that? Wasn't there something about how horrible that one was...?

So I picked it up and took off the lid and took a suspiciously tentative sniff. Oh my, I was flooded with warmth, with spice, with resinous woody, hints of floral, depth and colour.

Immediately, I knew that even if it didn't suit my skin, even if cat's pee followed any physical contact, even if I was spraying this on my clothes, not me, it was coming home. But of course, the next stage was to try it, and then it got better!

So, for all of you who don't like this - and there are many - just spare a thought for the few of us who get on with this sublime creation. It has taken 41 years for me to find this glorious scent, and I hope to be enjoying it for 40 more.

Funny thing, i was just reviewing a rare frag that gives me a headache and I thought of this. This is the rare other headache-inducer. And the person right below me agrees so i dont feel so bad! I can appreciate a good vintage perfume (l'heure bleu comes to mind) but this is horrid. I cant believe they still make it. Who knows? Maybe its marvelous on someone, but i couldnt imagine...

I never thought I would actually want to wear Youth Dew. It was my paternal grandmother's scent and my mother wore it off and on in the 60's and 70's. When my grandmother died, in her bathroom were about 12 unopened boxes of Youth Dew. I took one and have had it ever since. Last weekend, I was looking for a spicy scent for the cooler weather and there it was in its box. I tried it out and thought that this might have been a mistake! It is very strong upon initial application, but after about 30 min, it is so much better and spicy and woody! Just a wonderful winter scent, and only one spray will last all day long. It makes me smile every time I wear it, thinking of my grandmother!

I can't express how I feel about this fragrance. I can only describe it as trully repulsive. I know these are harsh words, but it is one of the two fragrances that I do not enjoy. It is too potent. It is a very strange fragrance. I guess people could wear it to be different, but should not spray too much (please!!!!).

I have to agree with Mellimello's review point that this is just too musky and strong, My mom loves it, but I have always found it overwhelming of acidic musk, rose and some sort of earthy scent. Very artifical too.

I know this reminds a lot of people of their grandmothers, but both my grandma and I are in agreement over this scent: we think it's nasty. It's so overly musky and heavy that you feel like it's choking you. I'm usually a fan of rose notes but this is like bashing you over the head with it. My grandma smelled it once and said it was worse than anything she had ever smelled before and I have to agree with her.